A British Army recruitment poster for the Army Catering Corps
, circa 1960.
, circa 1960.When you picture a chef in your head, a few of these clothing items may come to mind:
- White hats (or toque blanche; literally "white hat"), either pleated in a cylindrical shape or puffy at the top. Hairnets may also be worn, though they may be harder to see. A sushi chef will probably wear a hachimaki (headband), while a chef in a diner or other informal location might wear a wedge-shaped "overseas cap" (either made of cloth or a semi-disposable paper version).
- If the character has long hair, they will have it tied up, often in a Prim and Proper Bun.
- Aprons, to keep clothing underneath from getting messy.
- White coats. Combined with the hat, these items are usually all white to deflect heat, as lighter colours don't absorb heat as much as darker colors.
- A neckerchief, typically red.
If a character associated with food is wearing any of these, then they are Dressed to Cook. They can be wearing these items at all times, or once as a gag.
The reason why chefs wear these hats is because they act as a barrier, preventing loose hairs from falling into dishes and reducing the risk of contamination. They help maintain a sterile and hygienic environment, ensuring the food’s safety and integrity. Furthermore, the pleated chef's toque has 100 pleats; one for each way to cook eggs.
They also wear white for hygiene reasons. In the 19th century, Marie-Antoine Carême deliberately chose white as part of a chef's uniform to show stains and messes on the uniform, thereby demonstrating the abilities of the chef and assuring the customers that their food is free of contamination.
A subtrope of Stock Costume Traits. Often seen on a Supreme Chef or Lethal Chef. Compared Dressed to Heal and Dressed to Plunder. Contrast with Naked Apron, where an apron is often used for fanservice instead. Compare with "Kiss the Cook" Apron for more casual outings.
Note: This trope is pretty ubiquitous in the real world. Please make sure that examples have a reason to stand out with this trope in mind.
Examples:
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Anime & Manga
- Chainsaw Man: The Falling Devil wears a white chef's hat and outfit and talks about sending humans to Hell to be slaughtered by Devils as if she's a chef preparing a meal.
- Food Wars!: Part and parcel for a series revolving around culinary arts students who regularly have dedicated cook-off battles — everyone wears traditional white uniforms at some point or another as part of their training, though the main cast usually tailor their uniforms to match their personalities or school of discipline.
- Being the main character who specializes in outside-the-box thinking and experimentation for food prep, Soma himself wears an apron as a skirt, but he puts on his lucky headband when things get serious.
- The Aldini brothers specialize in Italian cuisine, and their outfits are accented with orange buttons, collars, sleeves, and waistband.
- Megumi's white chef's outfit and hat are nothing special or personalized, but this ends up accenting her own innocence and uncertainty in her cooking skills.
- Special mention goes to Satoshi Isshiki, a Home Nudist who casually cooks his meals in the dormitory in nothing more than an apron... though he will on occasion wear underwear. He does wear a normal outfit for official school-related activities such as Food War battles.
- JoJo's Bizarre Adventure:
- Diamond is Unbreakable: Tonio Trussardi is the proud founder and head chef of the Italian restaurant Trattoria Trussardi, where he pours his heart and soul into his craft. As a result, he is never seen without his traditional chef's uniform, including a tall hat, a double-breasted white jacket, an apron, and a neckerchief. He won't take it off even while he's running around town.
- JoJolion: In his introduction, Rai brings Josuke and Yasuho to the top of a chairlift that has a Secret Compartment holding a kitchen, where he then puts on a chef's apron to cook Tiramisu cakes while explaining the recipe to the two.
- My-HiME: Mai is the Team Mom and is noted as a Supreme Chef, so when she is shown tying on an apron, it is typically to showcase her using a culinary equivalent of Let's Get Dangerous!, usually with a determined look on her face. Generally Played for Laughs.
- Pretty Cure:
- HappinessCharge Pretty Cure!: When using the Chef PreCard, Hime gets a white hat, white coat, red apron, and red neckerchief.
- KiraKira★Pretty Cure à la Mode: When working at the KIRAKIRA Patisserie, all six Cures wear white puffy hats and white aprons.
- One Piece: The standard uniform for the entire Baratie staff, from Owner Zeff (whose toque is almost as tall as his body) on down. The main exception is of course Sanji, who goes through every workday dressed like James Bond.
- In Tamagotchi Friends and its Japanese version, Tamagotchi! Yume Kira Dream, Yumemitchi and Kiraritchi's pastry chef outfits come with the standard long, white cap and white coat, as well as neckerchiefs coded to the Tamagotchis' theme colors (pink for Yumemitchi and blue for Kiraritchi).
- Tenchi Muyo!: Sasami tends to wear a full-body pink and white apron-like gown whenever she’s busy cooking.
Asian and Eastern European Animation
- The Adventures of Captain Wrongel: Captain Wrongel and Lom put on white puffy hats and aprons when Lom takes an exam in navigation which is somehow also an exam in cooking.
- In official artwork for Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf, Paddi the goat has a human design that gives him a yellow-tinted chef outfit (since he is color-coded yellow) that includes a puffy chef hat, an allusion to his love of food.
Comic Books
- The Smurfs: Chef Smurf wears a puffy white hat and a white apron. He also wears a white neckerchief in the comics and live action films,
Fan Works
- Alicorn: Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie dress like this (plus fake moustaches) in order to deliver a tampered-with cake to Princess Luna's room as part of a prank war. The outfits conveniently conceal their cutie marks and that Rainbow is a Winged Unicorn, of which there are only three in existence.
- Kedabory's Muppet Mania: The French Chef wears a cylindrical white hat and a white coat. Her design is meant to be stiffer and more professional to contrast the more jovial Swedish Chef (see "Puppet Shows").
Films — Animation
- The Princess and the Frog: In the opening, when Tiana is preparing beignets, she wears a white apron.
- Ratatouille:
- Remy needs to hide himself inside Linguini's toque just so Remy can actually work his culinary magic. The whole plot hinges on him not being discovered.
- Chef Gusteau is always seen in a white hat, white coat, and apron.
Films — Live-Action
- 28 Days Later: Private Jones is portrayed as being the youngest of West's soldiers who take over the country house. He's also "the resident tin-opener" (cook, but not a good cook). He wears a pink frilly apron to cook in, demonstrating the association between women and cooking, along the lines of Feminine Women Can Cook.
- Wild Wild West. While Artemus Gordon is cooking a meal for himself and James West on their train, he wears a white coat and a chef's hat.
Literature
- A Dearth of Choice: The Dungeon's Undead Laborers all come into existence with some stock costume element. It's especially pleased that its skeletal cooking crew spawns with "adorable" chef toques.
All they needed was fake mustaches and it would be perfect… Hmm, that gives me an idea for the future.
- Shifty McGifty and Slippery Sam: In this British children's literature series, the two titular dogs work primarily as bakers, and are appropriately dressed in chef whites, toques and neckerchiefs (usually red and dark blue respectively).
- The Hunt for Red October: Captain Ramius observes that one of the sailors watching the Red October from the icebreaker that's escorting them out to sea is wearing chef's whites.
Live-Action TV
- The Brittas Empire: In "Brussels Calling", Gavin wears a white neckerchief, cylindrical hat, and apron whilst cooking for a children's party.
- Chef!: Gareth Blackstock thinks highly of himself as a chef, citing the fact that he has earned two Michelin Stars. He is not so much a fan of the items that go along with it. When he is called from the kitchen to speak with restaurant management he puts on the traditional chef's hat, which he never wears in the kitchen, and tells his sous chef, "Lucinda, I have adorned myself with a culinary condom."
- Columbo: The climax of the episode "Murder Under Glass" has Columbo preparing a meal with Smug Snake food critic Paul Gerard (Louis Jourdan), while decked out in the obligatory chef's hat and apron.
- CSI: NY: In a one-off gag in "Misconceptions", Det. Flack, who is single, has the day off and is shown wearing a white apron at home while preparing two plates of poached eggs with Hollandaise sauce. He calls out, "Hey, Sweetie, come and get it!" and his dog comes running.
- Fawlty Towers: In "The Anniversary", When Manuel gets his long-awaited wish to make paella, he wears chef's whites and a hat; in contrast to the usual chef Terry, who is rarely seen wearing a chef's hat.
- Iron Chef: The chefs wear standard cooking outfits but in different bright colors (including red, green, yellow, and blue; in addition, a chef who specializes in Italian food wears a chef outfit with red, white, and green stripes, the colors of the Italian flag).
- Leverage: Eliot Spencer, The Heavy of the group, is also a Supreme Chef, so when the con calls for it, he'll don an apron and a head wrap and show his prowess with cooking is just as great as his prowess for kicking ass.
- The Muppet Show: The Swedish Chef is never without his white hat and apron.
- Red Dwarf:
- In "Better Than Life", Rimmer wears a red neckerchief, cylindrical hat (amusingly with an "H" on it to indicate his Hologram status), and apron whilst cooking (poorly) for Lister and the Cat.
- In "Ouroboros", a flashback has Lister claiming Kochanski's ex is a total poser because he's always going around in a ridiculous white hat. Kochanski replies "He's a chef!"
Theme Parks
- One of the rabbit mascots at Swedish amusement park Liseberg is Herr Berg, who works as a baker. He is clad in a white toque, red neckerchief with white spots, and apron.
Toys
- LEGO: Sets from the 1980s and 1990s with a kitchen or snack bar, the figure behind the counter usually wears chef's whites and a hat.
- Tamagotchi: Shakertchi, a chef Tamagotchi, wears her white chef cap and apron including outside of when she's cooking.
Video Games
- Ace Attorney Investigations 2: Prosecutor's Gambit: Delicia Scone and Carmelo Gusto both wear chef’s attire in the flashback portion and present day in Case 3, which involves the investigation of a murder committed during a dessert-making contest.
- ANNO: Mutationem: After Sigrid awakens at the Flores residence with a Growling Gut, Holtz goes to prep her a meal wearing a classic chef hat in the kitchen. It ends up falling off him moments prior to the Surprise Santa Encounter.
- Chrono Cross: Orcha was the cook at Viper Manor before Serge recruits him — and helpfully wears a toque blanche as his badge of office, even into battle.
- Cooking Mama: Mama is often seen in an orange or blue apron.
- Cuphead: Chef Saltbaker is a pastry chef who's always wearing a chef's outfit.
- Drawn to Life: Chef Cookie is a regular raposa, aside from the fact that he always wears an apron and hat. Fittingly, he's the town cook and runs a restaurant.
- The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim: Chef's hats and chef's clothes are available as clothing items and are worn by cooks all over the province. In particular, they're most prominent during the Dark Brotherhood questline where the Dragonborn can Kill and Replace the Gourmet, a reclusive chef, and wear either a chef's hat or clothing (or both) to improve their disguise.
- Final Fantasy XIV:
- The Culinarian-exclusive class gear is always a variation of the traditional chef's uniform and the standard outfit for cooks across the realm. Lyngsath, the guildmaster of the Culinarians' Guild, is always seen wearing his while looking over the Bismarck, the finest eatery in Eorzea.
- Lisette de Valentione can almost always be found in her family's version of the chef's uniform while promoting the festivities that bear her family's name. Instead of all white, the outfit features a great deal of red emblematic of love and the heart, with several Valentine's Day festivals involving sweets and baked goods. Unisex and dress versions are available to players who participated in the event's original launch and through the cash shop.
- Genshin Impact: The icon for the "Cook" action is a chef's hat.
- Ghost Trick: The chef at Chicken Kitchen wears a white hat big enough for him to store a large bottle inside of.
- Kirby: With the exception of the first game where the power-up didn't exist yet, across all games, when Kirby gains the Cook power, it comes with a white toque for him.
- The Legend of Heroes: Trails through Daybreak: Victor is always wearing a chef's outfit while working in the Montmart Bistro.
- Miitopia: The Chef-classes default clothes are a white, cylindrically shaped hat, an apron in the preferred color of the Mii, a white coat, and a neckerchief in the preferred color of the Mii.
- Neopets: Several of the food-related characters on the site are dressed in a white, fluffy hat and, often, an apron. This includes Chef Bonju, the Underwater Chef, and the shopkeepers for Fresh Foods, Cafe Kreludor, Exquisite Ambrosia, Faerie Foods, Jelly Foods, Kiko Lake Treats, Pizzaroo, and the Bakery. This costume is also referenced in various items and exists as a wearable set of clothes in various forms.
- No Man's Sky: There are special cooking machine tables adorned with an icon of a Gek wearing a chef's hat and making a chef's kiss gesture.
- Pizza Tower: Peppino Spaghetti owns his own pizzeria, but is too poor to afford a proper apron, so he wears a white hat with a white tank top over his shirt. The plot of the game is that Peppino's pizzeria is in danger of being destroyed and he's trying to prevent that from happening.
- Pokémon:
- The Baker and Cook Trainer classes are always seen with chef's hats, white clothing, and cooking aprons.
- Pokémon Scarlet and Violet:
- Bug-type Gym Leader Katy runs the Patisserie Soapberry in Cortondo and wears a beige chef's uniform with a matching hat and dark brown neckerchief.
- Water-type Gym Leader Kofu is the head chef of his restaurant in Cascaraafa and is always seen wearing a cooking apron over his white chef's shirt.
- Crispin of the BB League Elite Four loves to cook and wears a white coat and yellow neckerchief over his Blueberry Academy uniform.
- RuneScape:
- Invoked. In order to enter the Cooks' Guild on the outskirts of Varrock, the player character must both have at least Level 32 Cooking and wear a chef's hat or a sous chef's toque. Ways around this include completing the hard tasks in the Varrock area or wearing a cooking skillcape (requiring maxing out the skill) or Max Cape (requiring maxing out all skills).
- The sous chef's toque is actually part of a set that, if all of the components are worn, raises cooking experience gained by 5%, encouraging players to act out this trope. Happily, the Cooking Gauntlets, which make it harder for the player to burn food, count for the glove slot.
- Scribblenauts: The "Chef" is a creatable object. They spawn in a full white chef outfit, handle cookware, and interact with any food items.
- Shipwrecked 64: Major character Giovanni Goose is a world-famous Angry Chef in a toque, white coat, and red cravat, with his Evil Doppelgänger Gary's more detailed art style adding a belt full of cooking utensils to the ensemble. Minor character Pipsqueak is a small mouse who wears a toque and a "Kiss the Cook" Apron. The two of them were rivals in The Tiny Mouse Chef, a not-very-successful film from Broadside Animation where Giovanni was the Big Bad and Pipsqueak was the protagonist.
- Super Cooks: Keleisis forgoes his typical adventuring gear from Golvellius and dresses like a chef as he fights against food-based enemies. The blonde woman on the title screen seemingly is Princess Rena taking on the job of a cook as well.
- Super Mario Bros.:
- Paper Mario Each of the main chefs in the Hub City; Tayce T, Zess T, and Saffron all wear aprons to cook meals for Mario upon being given ingredients.
- Paper Mario: Color Splash: The chef of Tangerino Grill wears a big white toque hat. This design is reused for the chef of Overlook Tower in Paper Mario: The Origami King.
- Princess Peach: Showtime!: As a Patisserie, Peach wears a chef's outfit with an apron and hat while baking cookies, cakes, and desserts.
- Super Mario RPG: Chef Torte and his apprentice both wear cooking hats and aprons while preparing the wedding cake for Booster's wedding.
- Wario Land: Shake It!: Large Fry is a Flying Seafood Special with a large chef's hat that's fought in a kitchen.
- Tomodachi Life: When a Mii is given a frying pan, they will prepare a random item while wearing a white coat and hat.
- Veritus: Sonny is the team's chef, and wears an apron and a headband; since he is bald, it's likely that he wears the headband to stop him from getting sweat in his eyes while he cooks.
- Yakuza: Like a Dragon: The Chef job equips your character with a chef's hat, long-sleeved jacket, and waist apron. Their weapon becomes a pair of cooking utensils (ladles, whisks, spatulas, etc.). This carries over to the game's sequel, Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth.
Web Videos
- Don't Hug Me I'm Scared: Of the two guest singers in "food", one is a talking steak wearing a white chef's hat. This is despite that we never actually see him cook; he's just there to spread lies about what's acceptable to eat and help murder/cannibalize Duck Guy.
- Guess the Build: In Skizz's 5th episode, Jimmy's initial prompt is "a bear cooking at a BBQ". In addition to having it be standing in front of a grill and holding a spatula, he also depicts the bear to be wearing a white chef's hat.
- Rats SMP: While Scott is normally the Farmer Rat and wears a straw hat, after he takes up cooking, he starts putting on a custom white chef's hat whenever he's on the job. It's Played for Laughs in that the chef hat is allegedly magical and it's a server in-joke for anyone wearing the hat to speak either in French or with a French accent (likely playing on France's association with gastronomy).
- SuperMarioLogan: Chef Pee Pee is Bowser's personal chef, and is rarely seen without his chef's hat and shirt.
Western Animation
- Aqua Teen Hunger Force: In "Lasagna", while Shake is usually a Lazy Bum, he's actually really good at cooking, wearing an apron making delicious lasagna in the kitchen.
- Ed, Edd n Eddy: In "Every Which Way But Ed", the Eds flashback to their super sweets scam where they wore chef outfits while selling cream horns made of bowling products.
- Fireman Sam:
- Italian cafe owner Bella Lasagne is never seen without her white apron.
- In early seasons, Elvis would wear a white apron when preparing lunch for the other firefighters.
- Futurama: TV celebrity chef Elzar wears a typical white chef's double-breasted jacket, except the jacket has four sleeves to accommodate his Neptunian alien anatomy.
- The Loud House:
- Chef Pat wears an apron, gloves, and a hairnet.
- When working at his restaurant, Lynn Sr. wears a toque and an apron.
- Clyde sometimes dons a chef hat when baking.
- Milo (2021): Chef Pierre is a bull who is a perfectionist. For attire, he wears a white toque, red neckerchief and white jacket.
- Miraculous Ladybug: Both Wang Cheng and Marlena Césaire are chefs, and they’re always seen wearing white chefs' jackets and (occasionally) white cylindrical hats. The latter eventually gets an alternate, non-uniform outfit at the end of season 3, while the former still has yet to be seen out of his uniform.
- The Patrick Star Show: During his Imagine Spot of being a Supreme Chef in "A Root Galoot", Cecil is seen wearing a white coat and a chef's toque.
- SpongeBob SquarePants: In the episode "Le Big Switch", Spongebob is enrolled in an exchange program with a snooty French chef and wears a chef hat. He wears the same outfit in "Salty Sponge" when he becomes the manager of the Softy Spitoon.
- Steven Universe:
- In "Restaurant Wars", Amethyst wears a chef’s toque working at Steven’s (fake) restaurant.
- In the episode "Bismuth", the titular Bismuth is taught to cook (and eat) pizza by Steven. While cooking said pizza, she's wearing a white chef's hat.
- In the "Cooking with Lion" short, Steven wears an apron to demonstrate his cooking recipe.
- Strawberry Shortcake:
- The Peculiar Purple Pieman is an evil baker who's always depicted as wearing a toque and an apron.
- The girls don chef hats to bake their Friendship Cake in the episode "World of Friends" for the 2003 cartoon.
- In the Super Mario World (1991) episode "King Scoopa Koopa", Koopa wears a chef hat and apron as part of his restaurant-owning gig, even though he doesn't do any cooking directly.
- Total Drama: In "If You Can't Take The Heat...", the teams have to do a cooking challenge and prepare a three-course dinner where they'll be judged on the quality of their food. Heather immediately calls being head chef, puts on a white apron, and ties her long hair back. Leshawna calls her on it when she gets fed up with her bossiness and yells, "Who you think you foolin’ with this crispy white apron power trip you on?!"
Real Life
- White Castle chose the image of pure white uniforms and polished white interiors to highlight cleanliness and sanitation, as compared to the meat wagons where burgers were typically made at that point in history.
